Biochemistry

Major

Check out our high-performance liquid chromatograph. Take our ultraviolet-visible spectrometer for a spin. Would you like to use our DNA sequencer? Or perform Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy? If you’ve got a passion for biochemistry, we would love to work with you. Lakeland’s professors have an impressive collection of high-tech tools they're excited to introduce you to. Together, using Lakeland’s deeply ingrained hands-on approach, you will unlock the many secrets of biochemistry. You will get a project, you will learn how to use and troubleshoot all of our instruments, you will learn how to obtain results, how to interpret those results and how to explain those results to an audience.

A versatile major

Majoring in biochemistry opens up numerous career doors. A biochemistry degree from Lakeland will prepare you for medical school or pharmaceutical school, because your courses will meet the prerequisites for professional school acceptance.

If you’d prefer to go directly into the workforce, your Lakeland College biochemistry Bachelor of Arts degree – and the plentiful internship opportunities with local companies – will make you an exceptionally attractive candidate for entry level positions involving chemistry.

And if you’d prefer to enter graduate school and focus on earning a Ph.D. or doctorate in biochemistry, that path is wide open as well. One former Lakeland College student is a Ph.D. candidate in biophysics at prestigious Johns Hopkins University. Another is a Ph.D. candidate in physical chemistry at the University of Michigan.

Students who major in biochemistry will:

Understand and work with the central concepts of the field, including bioenergetics, biochemical pathways, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleotides and proteins

Formulate and solve biochemistry problems by applying the scientific method, particularly within a laboratory setting

Write effective lab reports, which follow the form and meet the expectations of scientific journals

Snapshot of Success

What began as an internship quickly became the start of a promising career for Ben, who graduated with his bachelor’s degree in 2010.

“I was a summer intern at Johnsonville, and after I graduated, a position opened up in the microbiology lab,” he says. “They thought I worked out well during my internship, and I got the job.”

Ben has an important role at Johnsonville, which produces and exports its award-winning bratwurst to all 50 U.S. states and 30 other countries.

“I help ensure that all of our product is safe and free of bacteria,” he says. “I go to the various plants, swab equipment, test product and work with research and development on new product, which is really interesting.”

Ben, who came to Lakeland College to play football and fuel his lifelong interest in science, credits Lakeland’s hands-on approach to learning.

“It was really good for me,” he says. “In some of the upper-level classes, there were only six of us, which was really nice. We worked as a group instead of just listening to a professor present information. All of my professors offered great encouragement, and I knew I could call them any time.

“I learned how to work alongside others, while embracing strong values. It was a great experience. At Lakeland, you interact so much more with people, and everyone treats you like a person, not a number.”

Recent Grads, Real Careers

Listed below are just some of the jobs or graduate school positions Lakeland College biochemistry students from recent graduating classes have landed: